MANILA, Philippines--She was leaving the program soon, anyway.

Talent manager Annabelle Rama said she ordered her daughter/ward Ruffa Gutierrez?s walkout on Sunday from the set of ?The Buzz? because she (Ruffa) was hurt by Kris? on-air comments in one segment of the show.

On Monday Rama told Inquirer Entertainment that the incident was the last straw in a long period of distress for her and her daughter, caused by Aquino.

Coincidentally, according to a report on ABS-CBN?s ?TV Patrol,? Gutierrez was on her last two episodes with ?The Buzz.?

Real reason

Rama said Aquino was the ?real reason? that Ruffa was leaving ABS-CBN for TV5. The move was announced in a press conference on Friday.

Gutierrez and Aquino co-host ?Buzz? with Boy Abunda.

?For almost three years, she has been embarrassing Ruffa, always interrupting her,? said Rama. ?Last Sunday, my daughter couldn?t take it any more. She cried in the dressing room. I told her, ?Umalis ka na d?yan. Umuwi ka na lang.??

Ruffa had put up with the abuse, Rama said, because ?she?s in love with ?The Buzz.? But I was hurting for her, too.?

In an interview on the GMA 7 program ?Showbiz Central? on Sunday (even as ?The Buzz? was airing), Rama said she had told ABS-CBN bosses that she was pulling Ruffa out of the show. ?I talked with Cory (Vidanes, channel head), Charo (Santos-Concio, president), and Linggit Tan (head of entertainment production). I did not tell them the real reason. But [now] the people have to know. I can no longer take Kris? rudeness.?

Public apology

The feisty manager insisted that Aquino should apologize publicly?on TV?and not just via text messages, like the one that Aquino sent to various publications over the weekend. An apology should be heartfelt,? Rama stressed.

On Monday, Aquino did as Rama demanded, explaining herself even on rival network GMA 7 and apologizing on behalf of her whole family?including her brother Noynoy and her mother, the late President Cory.

Earlier that day in a text message, Aquino told the Inquirer: ?In the opening of ?The Buzz,? I gave Boy a hug and said I missed him? Ruffa said, ?Don?t I get a hug, too? Won?t you miss me?? So I hugged her and said, ?Of course I?ll miss you.? So the statement ?Aminin, ibang level ang saya dito? came from her asking me early on if she?ll be missed and my replying in the affirmative.?

See for yourself

Aquino explained that she didn?t expect Gutierrez?s reaction. ?I only have control over my own reactions and motives,? said Aquino. ?Watch the clip on YouTube or anywhere else it has been posted. No negative motive on my part.?

She added that she hopes to patch things up with Gutierrez, whom she ?enjoyed a healthy working relationship with, and had only good words to say about.?

Goin? bananas

On her Twitter account, Gutierrez said she switched off her cellphone on Sunday night ?because it was going bananas with calls and messages.? She added: ?Sa lahat ng tumawag, nag-text, thank you. I leave everything up to God.?

But Rama seemed bent on taking matters into her own hands as she dragged Aquino?s brother, Noynoy, a presidential aspirant, into the fray.

Speaking in Filipino, she told ?Showbiz Central?: ?I?m calling on the public?do not vote for Noynoy. He?s not even president yet, and Kris is already so arrogant.?

Kris? promise

For her part, Aquino said she promised her brother during the family dinner on Sunday night: ?If he wins?and I?m the cause of stress for him and his presidency?I?ll gladly take my two boys (sons Joshua and James Jr.) to live anywhere there is TFC (The Filipino Channel) so that I can continue to work but with our overseas Filipino brothers and sisters.?